Philosophy as a Way of Life

JAMES M. AMBURY is an associate professor of philosophy at King's College in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, and is a member of the Mellon Philosophy as a Way of Life Network. He is the co-editor (with Andy German) of Knowledge and Ignorance of Self in Platonic Philosophy (2019) and has published articles in Ancient Philosophy, International Philosophical Quarterly, Proceedings of the Boston Area Colloquium in Ancient Philosophy, Dionysius, and Plato. TUSHAR IRANI is an associate professor of philosophy and letters at Wesleyan University, Connecticut. Apart from his interests in philosophy as a way of life, he works on issues of philosophical method, the history and practice of rhetoric, virtue ethics, and moral psychology in ancient Greek and Roman philosophy. He is the author most recently of Plato on the Value of Philosophy: The Art of Argument in the Gorgias and Phaedrus (2017). KATHLEEN WALLACE is professor of philosophy at Hofstra University. She is the author of The Network Self: Relation, Process, and Personal Identity (2019). In addition to her interest in philosophy as a way of life, her work spans interests in personal identity and anonymity, ethics, metaphysics, and American philosophy. She is currently on the Board of the Society for the Advancement of American Philosophy and is also the book review editor for Metaphilosophy.

• Notes on Contributors ixIntroduction 1James M. Ambury, Tushar Irani, and Kathleen WallacePart 1: History of Philosophy 51 Ancient Greek Philosophia in India as a Way of Life 7Christopher Moore2 Philosophy and the Good Life in the Zhuangzi 25Pengbo Liu3 Esoteric Confucianism, Moral Dilemmas, and Filial Piety 45William Sin4 Renaissance Humanism and Philosophy as a Way of Life 65John Sellars5 Cartesian Philosophy as Spiritual Practice 83Joseph I. Breidenstein Jr.6 Leibniz’s Philosophy as a Way of Life? 97Paul Lodge7 Philosophy as a Feminist Spirituality and Critical Practice  for Mary Astell 117Simone Webb8 Nietzsche and Unamuno on Conatus and the Agapeic Way of Life 141Alberto Oya9 Ways of Discourse and Ways of Life: Plato on the Conflict Between Poetry and Philosophy 155I-Kai Jeng10 Stoicism and its Telos: Insights from Michel Foucault 173Robin WeissPart 2: Moral Philosophy 19311 Philosophy as a Way of Life Today: History, Criticism, and Apology 195Marta Faustino12 Setting Limits to Practical Reflection: Against Philosophy as a Way of Life 213Vitor Sommavilla13 What It Takes to Live Philosophically: Or, How to Progress in the Art of Living 229Caleb M. Cohoe and Stephen R. Grimm14 Why Practice Philosophy as a Way of Life? 249Javier HidalgoPart 3: Pedagogy 27115 On the Benefits of Philosophy as a Way of Life in a General Introductory Course 273Jake Wright16 Philosophy as Empirical Exploration of Living: An Approach to Courses in Philosophy as a Way of Life 293Steven HorstIndex 309